The present invention relates generally to the games commonly called billiards or pool and, more specifically, to a bridge for supporting and steadying a cue.
A cue is tapered rod with a blunt tip that is used in the game of billiards to strike a ball and thus propel it across the surface of a table. (The word "billiards," as used herein, encompasses all such games in which a cue is used in this manner.) To make a shot, a player typically forms a bridge with one hand to support and steady the cue with respect to the table. While a portion of the bridge, typically the player's fingertips, remains firmly planted on the table, the player uses his other hand to place the cue on the bridge and slide the cue into contact with the ball. The player may form an "open bridge," where the player's knuckles simply cradle the cue, or a "closed bridge," where the player's finger completely surrounds the cue. The bridge allows the player to slide or reciprocate the cue freely in the direction of the axis of the cue and also allows the player to pivot the cue to some extent in directions perpendicular to its axis, i.e., directions that are horizontal and vertical with respect to the billiard table surface, without moving the portion of his hand that remains in contact with the table. However, the bridge restrains the cue against horizontal and vertical movement at the point where it contacts the bridge.
A player may use an auxiliary mechanical bridge instead of forming a bridge with his hand. Such bridges are typically of the open variety and have one or more "V"-shaped grooves for cradling the cue. The bridge may be attached to the end of a cue-like bridge stick that allows a player to support the cue at a point on the billiards table at which it would be difficult for him to form a bridge with his hand. U.S. Pat. No. 2,817,525, issued to Niemann, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,576,324, issued to Lareau, disclose examples of such bridges.
Other types of bridges may be gripped directly by the player without the aid of a bridge stick. U.S. Pat. No. 1,105,478, issued to Ames, U.S. Pat. No. 3,851,876, issued to Baker, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,153, issued to Josenhans, disclose open bridges that players grip with their fingers. The devices disclosed in the latter two patents can also be used for training a player to form a bridge with his hand.
Developing an auxiliary closed bridge is problematic for practitioners in the art because it must restrain the cue against movement in horizontal and vertical directions but allow it to move freely in the axial directions. U.S. Pat. No. 2,931,649, issued to Furda, addresses these problems in one embodiment by providing two semicylindrical resilient members that are biased together to cradle the cue between them and, in another embodiment, by providing a resilient leaf spring that biases the cue against a fixed portion of the bridge. U.S. Pat. No. 4, 147,346, issued to Gianetti, addresses the problems associated with auxiliary closed bridges by providing two semicylindrical members that are hinged together and spring-biased to cradle the cue between them. The semicylindrical members are lined with ball bearings to minimize friction.
It would be desirable for an auxiliary bridge to allow a player to move the cue through a range of motion similar to that which a bridge formed by a player's hand allows. The closed bridges known in the art do not allow a player to pivot the cue while a portion of the bridge remains fixed with respect to the table. In addition, the closed bridges known in the art include complex mechanisms, such as spring-biased hinges, which are uneconomical of manufacture. These problems and deficiencies are clearly felt in the art and are solved by the present invention in the manner described below.